Icy weather in Upstate brings two fatal accidents, many school and office closures

Emergency workers have removed both doors, the windshield and part of the roof of a Mustang convertible to remove two men trapped when the car traveling east on Cherokee Road hit the ice on the bridge over U.S. 29, spun around, went down the embankment and struck a tree. The driver was taken by ambulance to Greenville Memorial Hospital. A tow truck arrived at about 4:45 p.m. to help remove the passenger pinned by the car and the trees.

The wintry weather also prompted the early closure of government offices and schools throughout the region.

A 52-year-old Liberty man, James Allen Carroll, died shortly after 11 a.m. Friday after losing control of his 2003 F-250 pickup on an icy patch of U.S. 123 in Pickens County, officials said. The pickup went off the side of the highway near Cartee Road and overturned. Carroll's son, who was a passenger in the pickup, was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital.

Earlier Friday, the driver of a 1994 Saturn was killed in a three-vehicle accident north of Spartanburg, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

At one point Friday afternoon, state troopers were responding to 175 accidents on Upstate roads.

Anderson County emergency services director Taylor Jones praised South Carolina Department of Transportation workers for using brine to keep ice from accumulating on Interstate 85 and other key roads in the county.

"They got out ahead of the weather, so things have looked pretty good here," Jones said.

He said the worst travel conditions were in the Powdersville area, which is where an Anderson County sheriff's deputy was involved in a minor wreck. The deputy was not hurt.

Two people were seriously injured Friday afternoon in one of the worst weather-related accidents that happened in the county. They were in a Mustang that hit a slick spot on the Cherokee Road bridge over U.S. 29 North. The vehicle careened down an embankment before slamming into a tree. Emergency workers toiled for two hours to free the car's passenger. One firefighter suffered a minor hand injury.

Sixteen traffic accidents had been reported in Oconee County by Friday afternoon, according to Adam Williams, the county's deputy emergency management director.

One of the wrecks in Oconee County involved a driver who managed to avoid injury after his car plunged down a 25-foot embankment near S.C. 11 outside West Union, Williams said.

In Seneca, a single-car crash led to the temporary closure of Radio Station Road, said Fire Chief Jan Oliver. The car's driver and passenger suffered only minor injuries in the wreck, which was blamed on black ice that formed on a bridge, Oliver said.

County government offices in Pickens and Oconee counties closed early Friday because of the weather. An Anderson County Council workshop scheduled for Friday afternoon was postponed, but county offices remained open. An open House for Broadway Lake Community Center at McFalls Landing was postponed as well.

Thousands of students got an early start on their weekend. Classes ended early Friday at Clemson University and Tri-County Technical College, as well as public schools in Pickens, Oconee and Anderson counties.

Only scattered power outages were reported Friday.

A portion of S.C. 28 was shut down Friday afternoon so Duke Energy could make repairs to a power pole and a commercial power line that serves Carpenter's Church in Anderson.

Jones said a car had smashed into the pole after hitting a patch of ice Friday morning.

"It was especially important to get that work done because the church wanted to be ready to have Sunday services," Jones said. "They also have a day care out there."

While the freezing rain and sleet had ended by Friday afternoon, the entire Upstate remained under a winter weather advisory until 11 p.m. Forecasters at the National Weather Service cautioned that ice may could form on roads overnight, making for hazardous travel.

Areas of dense fog are expected Saturday morning, but skies should eventually clear. The forecast for Anderson calls for a high of 54 Saturday with an overnight low of 30. Sunday will be sunny with a high of 49, according to the weather service.